What's Up
by LeRoy Cook
Holiday travelers over the Thanksgiving weekend had to
contend with the usual dreariness of late fall, even the first snowfall.
General aviation didn’t fare so well, given the active fronts draped across the
mid-section, Even airline flights were scrambled; icing was reported at all the
middle altitudes, and runways needed plowing from St. Louis northward.
Accordingly, not much traffic came through the local
airport last week. I had a call from a Columbia-based pilot looking for a
parking spot where fuel was available; when I told him our pump was still shut
down he opted to land at Harrisonville. A Mooney M-20E came in and a Piper
Warrior visited, and that was the week’s observed traffic.
We reported about an Airbus A320 airliner suffering a
sudden drop in altitude last month, which injured 15 passengers. The 320-series
‘Bus is the most popular airliner in the world, with over 11,000 in service,
thanks to European subsidies, and it’s very high-tech, being computer-flown
rather than hand piloted. As it turns out, investigators of last month’s
incident found a flaw in the software that allows solar flares to interfere
with the fly-by-wire controls. So 75% of the Airbuses are having mandatory
reprogramming work done, until new hardware can be made; no passengers can be
carried until the update is done. American Airlines alone has 480 of the type.
An unrelated incident took place a week-ago Sunday when an
American Airlines A321 had to divert to Houston because of fumes in the cabin.
Four stewardesses and a passenger were taken to the hospital while another
Airbus was employed to continue the flight.
In more high-tech flying, a West Virginia outfit that’s a
subsidiary of Boeing has come up with a “stealth” optionally-piloted airplane
that has no moving controls, instead it’s to be flown by puffs of air squirting
out of nozzles. It’s supposed to be less detectable by radar than aircraft with
conventional control surfaces. To be flown in 2027, the prototype will have
both types of flight controls, in case it the reaction controls don’t work.
Remember when Chicago’s mayor dismantled the Meigs airport
on the city’s lakefront, back in the 1990s? Well, now it’s Cleveland, Ohio’s
turn. The venerable Burke Lakefront airport, long a convenient landing spot on
Lake Erie’s south shore, is being threatened with closure. Some in the City
think it would be a nice park. Never mind that it provides access to Cleveland
by general aviation aircraft and vital emergency services. We hope Burke
Lakefront can be saved.
Out of Canada comes a report that Transport Canada, the
equivalent of our benevolent FAA, has been cracking down on commemorative
fly-overs, when pilots get together to make a pass over funerals, celebrations
and fly-ins. Deemed “airshow performances,” they’ve been forbidden without an
on-site government supervisor. Now there’s good news that exemptions will be
allowed, but with lots of criteria to be met and two week’s advance notice. So
far, the FAA hasn’t bothered memorial formation flying like “missing man”
demonstrations, but we’d better be careful if we want to keep free and open
skies.
Our question of the week asked the duration of a Private
Pilot’s medical certificate. There’s more than one answer: For pilots under 40,
it’s five years, even after they turn four-oh. Over 40, it’s two years, except
if flying under BasicMed provisions, then the exam is good for four years. Next
time, tell us what caliber bullets were fired by most British fighter planes
during World War 2? You can send your answers to [email protected].
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